In the shade of the Oak Tree
by Exotic Rooftile
Summary: What if the unthinkable happened?


Title: In the shade of the Oak Tree

Rating: PG-13 for allusion to violence

Summary: What if the unthinkable happened?

Disclaimer: Not mine, no money

A/N: Please don't throw things at me for doing this to them, but I just felt it needed to be written. Reviews would be lovely, elsewise I'll do something nasty to them again. :P

**In the shade of the Oak Tree**

It was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and warm but not too stiflingly hot. As it was early July, no children were in school, and Kerry could vaguely hear their shrieks of laughter as she slowly made her way down the gravel pathway, a multitude of birds serenading her passage, and the breeze tugging at her hair.

Continuing along the path, Kerry could almost feel the gravel resisting her every step, telling her _no. not today. go and laugh with your friends today. _She ignored the gravel, filtering out even the noise of the playing children as she focused on her destination. Too soon, it seemed, she was there. Partly in the shadow of an ancient gnarled oak tree, this little patch of earth looked no different to any other around it, but to Kerry it held all the difference in the world.

Because here lay the grave of her best friend, and sometime boyfriend. In amongst the grave of the townspeople, the graves of those who had dies peacefully in their sleep, of old age or of disease, lay the grave of one young boy who had died violently, suddenly and horribly.

Kerry knelt and placed the flowers she had brought by his headstone, picking up the wilting ones already there and sweeping them to one side. The official funeral had been small, just Kerry and a few close friends and Mac, Zara and Ewart. The townspeople had, of course asked what had happened. _A car accident,_ Mac told them in a sombre voice. _Hit and run. They think the driver was drunk. _The people shook their heads and muttered about irresponsible youth and then went back to their daily lives.

Kerry remembered, tears silently pouring down her face, the memorial service. That had been the real farewell. Held in the dojo, the only building big enough, every single CHERUB agent on campus, including the staff, had attended. They were all in shock. Although they had all been told the risks on joining, somehow losing one of their own, one of their _best_ had made it all so much more real. Now, everywhere she went, there was a hush around Kerry. Teachers said nothing if a homework wasn't turned in, or was sloppy, and nobody reported her if she snapped at a junior agent.

Now, hand shaking, Kerry reached out to brush her fingers against the tombstone. It was simple, black marble and read

_James Adams. _

_Died aged 16, died before his time._

_R.I.P. _

Keeping one hand against the cold stone, and using the other to steady herself, Kerry sat perfectly still, just silently watching James' grave. When her tears ran dry, and her knees began to complain of the dampness of the grass, she stirred. Not for the first time, she began to talk to James.

'You know, Kyle finally found himself a boyfriend. A proper one, at CHERUB. You remember Matt? Qualified two years after us? Well, him.' She paused, although whether it was to collect herself or to wait for an answer that would never come, even she couldn't say. 'And Bethany and Gabrielle had a spat. Gabrielle swears blind it was because of what Bethany said to her, but I think it might have more to do with Rat. Oh, and I nearly forgot, Zara's littlest learnt to tell the time last week. You can't go and talk to Zara without him telling you it every five minutes.'

Kerry continued talking to James about life on campus until she ran out of news. Finally, she added, very quietly, 'I miss you James. And Lauren. She's heartbroken'. Kerry's mind wandered to James' little sister

Poor Lauren had witnessed it all. A low-risk op, just info gathering on a thief gang, maybe into weapons smuggling, but not seriously. The two siblings had jumped at the chance to get away from campus after months of mo missions, even for a low priority, no glory mission. And for the first fifteen days, it had been just as simple as predicted. James and Lauren had been almost ready to close the mission down and head back to their friends when they had been uncovered.

Later, Lauren told Mac they had both started running as one of the men had pulled out a gun, presumably creamed from the weapons smuggling. James had been shot before he could reach shelter (the post mortem revealed he had taken 7 bullets, from which at least 3 would have been fatal on their own), his body sheltering hers until it fell. She'd found cover, a place to hide, and had stayed there until the Police found her when they were called to the scene. Since then, Kerry knew Lauren hadn't even been able to touch a gun in training exercises.

A bird cawing loudly from the tree above her pulled Kerry out of her dream like state. 'Ill see you soon' Kerry promised, smiling weakly at the grave. 'Keep safe'. It seemed such a pointless thing to say to the dead, but she needed to say it.

Kerry got up and walked away without looking back. She would go and face today. And then tomorrow. And then the next day and all the ones after that, taking each day one at a time, and slowly she would learn to live with the pain.


End file.
